The present invention relates to electrolytic aluminum production cells, and more particularly to the retrofitting of inert anodes into cells containing conventional carbon anodes.
Existing aluminum smelting cells use consumable carbon anodes which produce CO2 and other gaseous by-products and must be frequently replaced. Inert, or non-consumable, consumable, anodes climinate these weaknesses, but would also change the heat balance of the cell. There are thousands of existing conventional cells, which would be cost-prohibitive to replace in their entireties. Accordingly, there is a need for a retrofit cell design that accepts inert anodes with minimal changes to existing cells.